Melancholy in Misaki
by CapoExecutor
Summary: Reworked Melancholy of the Mystes. AU. Adolescence and innocence have been long over for the three of us because we are fighting battles more suited to be fought by actual professionals. But when life throws hardball lemons at you, just make some lemonade and do what you can. Different Life, Different Rules, Different Times. Pairings TBD.


Note: I don't own Shakugan no Shana.

I'm redoing Melancholy of the Mystes. Characters might be a little different in personalities and I'm going to try to integrate the final season elements into this one. Also, pairings are still being determined.

IIIII::::IIIII

"So you're the three little whelps that have been depriving power of existence to my precious Marianne." Friagne snarled as Yutaro Sakai, Yuji Sakai, and Yukari Hirai kept their weapons trained at the Guze King, who looked at each one of them in turn. "The Mystes of the Godai, Reiji Maigo, and the Mahiru Maigo… I'll have a new set for my collection."

"Not quite. Marianne is a joke in battle and I doubt you'd be a challenge, no matter how many Flame Hazes you killed." Yukari spoke as she kept the Strata Arch, a bladed bow, trained on her target while internally debating as whether she should put an arrow into Friagne's forehead or into the barrel of Trigger Happy. "Honestly, crashing the last days of my summer job is a big no-no!"

With that said, Yukari released the drawn arrow at Friagne, who fired an intercepting shot at the incoming projectile. In the critical seconds, Yuji dashed forward with the Rotational Edge, a broadsword with a chainsaw blade, before slashing downwards at Friagne, who quickly sidestepped at the last second before flying fast into the air. But Yutaro swung one of the chained sickles of the Rensen, catching Friagne before planting the other chained sickle into the ground.

"You're not going anywhere." Yutaro spoke before a warning jolt erupted in his instincts that the Mystes evaded Marianne, who nearly skewered the youth from behind with a javelin arm. The distraction allowed Friagne to break free only for him to see an arrow plunge through Marianne from behind. Time seemed to slow for Friagne as he watched flames burst out of Marianne's form until the Rinne disintegrated into embers.

"NOOOO!" Friagne roared as he pulled Trigger Happy before turning and firing at Yukari, who quickly sprinted for cover behind a building.

"Now it's just you being the leftover." Yuji called out, getting Friagne's attention. The Hunter turned and fired Trigger Happy with a maniacal look on his face. But the Mystes zigzagged through the incoming shots before vanishing in an after-image that went past Friagne before reappearing a few feet away with the Rotational Edge drawn. Having been the victim to a Shukuchi maneuver, Friagne felt life leave his body, which separated into two cleaved halves before exploding into embers, leaving Trigger Happy and a number of Hougu behind.

"So I guess that's that." Yutaro spoke as he salvaged the City Devourer Treasure Tool while Yukari picked up Trigger Happy as her additional weapon. "By the way Yukari, good shot."

"What can I say? Revenge is sweet." Yukari replied with a smile. "Are we training too hard or have we been facing weaklings since the beginning?"

"The latter I say." Yuji replied as he placed the Rotational Edge away. "Anyways, we should fix this place and head back."

IIIII::::IIIII

"So how did work go today? Any problems with your routine pest control?" Chigusa asked as she made dinner for her twin sons and adoptive daughter. Ever since Yukari's parents were devoured, Chigusa invited her into the Sakai household.

"Friagne's dead." Yuji spoke. "I'm thinking of spending the last days of summer salvaging whatever belongings he had."

"If we find anything that can protect you without using power of existence, you're more than welcome to have it." Yukari added.

"I'll take you up on that." Chigusa replied.

"Yuji, are you ready for me to scan the Reiji Maigo?" Yutaro asked.

"Sure." Yuji replied before standing up as Yutaro cast a large number of Unrestricted Methods.

"Ah, you have a strange spell of sorts that doesn't belong in there." Yutaro remarked before Yukari cast her magic to extract a silver template out. "I'll analyze it and see what it is after dinner."

"I wonder if Johan ever realized the presence of that spell." Yuji replied.

"It's possible that the Reiji Maigo might have been tagged with it a few seconds after his demise." Yukari spoke. "Any interesting memories besides his lovey-dovey life with Pheles?"

"Nope." Yuji replied. "No matter how much time passes, I'll still look at the Engage Link as nothing more than a hormonal couple."

"Alright, dinner is ready!" Chigusa announced from the kitchen.

IIIII::::IIIII

Chigusa's Diary

_Sept. 1, 2004_

_Since Friagne, there weren't many incidents other than the occasional Guze Denizen intruding into the city such that the children had to deal with arrivals. A few times, some Flame Hazes did pass through without incident. There isn't any need to attract trouble so we simply acted as normal as we could to prevent suspicions._

_For Yuji, Yukari, and Yutaro, they didn't complain much when it came to fighting enemies that originate from another world, seeing the challenges as their initiation into the hostilities lurking in the shadows and rites of passage in growing up with a true view of the world that they are living in. My, I'm almost sounding like a storyteller there. Like every mother, I worry about my sons and my daughter. Yukari may not have been blood kin but family ties are never defined biologically all the time. Poor thing has to live everyday with the fact that her parents are dead and knowing why it happened. I could at least relate to her since I too am an orphan although I doubt my own parents might have been devoured. Maybe they did or probably decided to dump me as unwanted baggage. I'll never know. _

_Sept. 30, 2004_

_This earlier week, Yukari suggested to Yuji and Yutaro in this need to start what she called a Tech Tree to better handle their opponents. After seeing the large amount of equipment and specialized instruments that Friagne had hoarded for his uses, it was apparent that the advantages needed to always be on their side when it came to defending their turf. That was her reasoning. Even though they defeated Friagne, the Guze King had been a tough opponent that they only managed to endure, thanks to luck alone. For the first time, I was called into help for my sharp vision and analytical thinking skills played a large part in their objectives. I think Yukari's flattery should be reserved for a good looking boy that could sweep her off her feet but I'm still flattered nonetheless._

_Speaking of Yukari, she actually joked about the use of copyrighted ideas and that the Guze has lawyers that could sue them for unfair tactics in fighting. But maybe we could sue those Lords and Denizens over stealing human literature and other myths for their own identities. Still, Yukari had started writing and compiling a large notebook of ideas that I think containing information that would become the basis of our technology. Homework first, Tech Tree later._

_Nov. 15, 2004_

_I got so carried away that I forgot to write about what has been happening. I wish I could disclose a lot of things in detail but none of them seem to warrant attention. I'll just say that my help is very invaluable._

_Yuji had also been invaluable from the start, utilized the memories of the Engage Link to understand the finer points of making Rinne and Treasure Tools. While certain sections of the Reiji Maigo were off-limits likely to protect a dormant Johan, Yuji and Yutaro had gotten more than enough information for what they need and the extra had only served to better fine-tune some of the inventions they made with Yukari's help. Engage Link sure had a wealth of information that provided more than insight into how things work. I hope Yuji didn't find anything naughty pertaining to Johan and Pheles. That stuff ought to be for my eyes and ears only because housewives have too much time on our hands._

_Yukari estimates that the Tech Tree will be done by the winter and preliminary testing will commence once everything is in order. I hope to God they don't do anything rash. As far as I know, they could upset the entire space-time continuum if something went wrong. Otherwise, they could literally have the equipment to change battlefield conditions to their own liking._

_Dec. 20, 2004_

_I think I'm starting to believe that people can be too smart for their own good and I really need to consider keeping a bullwhip when Kantaro is home. Three weeks ago, Yuji had gotten a spark of entrepreneurship, leading to the start of an alcohol beverage business. Having looked at the Time Seal and deciphered the functional dynamics, he stated that there were features that had some very strong implications for various functions, especially when it came to the fermentation process. Wine and other alcohol beverages needed time to age for better conditions and Yuji could see a strong case in being able to modify and use the Time Seal to his advantage. No thanks to Kantaro and Yutaro, his ambition came to pass with the first result of regular grape wine that had been aged to a hundred years and it tasted really outstanding! My goodness! It actually worked! Yuji began his business with help from his father Kantaro, who knew enough about business issues and legalities to assist in the sales both domestically and abroad. _

_Now, the whole idea of operating a winery business is very much Yuji's hobby but when it came to extensive reliance on the modified and original versions of the Time Seal, he could do his homework and other things without having to worry about the clock. Thanks to the winery, the large profit yields allowed Kantaro to leave his job although the man decided to assist in the logistics and transport of the alcoholic beverages. Both Kantaro and Yuji might have thought that they had kept secret about the necessity for overseas smuggling from me but I know what they're up to. Had they been to the Prohibition Era in America, I'm sure Kantaro and Yuji would put Al Capone out of business._

_Feb. 1, 2005_

_I have a feeling that things are about to get really wild. Maybe I'm overreacting. I really wish I could see into the future._

IIIII::::IIIII

Godai = Five Great Elements

Reiji Maigo = Midnight Stray Child

Mahiru Maigo = Midday Stray Child

I really didn't want to discard the Seiren Maigo but I think one version, especially a daylight version of the Reiji Maigo, is enough. And to be fair, I switched the Mahiru Maigo to Yukari and gave Yutaro a new Treasure Tool called the Godai.


End file.
